Aquinas Academy Adventures

Homeschooling four future saints while enjoying the gifts and enduring the trials of our earthly life. Pull up a chair and read of our adventures; glean inspiration and ideas of what might work - and not work - in your own family, all while helping us stay accountable here in our humble Academy...

Saturday, September 06, 2008

Friday, May 30, 2008

First of all, I haven't posted because I've been super busy trying to get back on track with our school work. Teaching 3 (actually 4 as the youngest *has* to be involved, too) is just mind-numbingly busy - love it, but it leaves me very little time for anything else!

I have been blogging here with just a log of what our days/weeks are like, if you are interested in that sort of thing.

Today, though, we have set aside our formal school work to watch a very special program. The Ordinations of the FSSP priests, live on EWTN. We saw one of my parish priests there, the boys thought it was pretty neat to see him on TV! You can check out this link for pictures and commentary. It is truly amazing. My prayers are definitely with those amazing young men!

Sunday, April 20, 2008

It's been a crazy busy week. Not much to say today, but thought I'd share some pictures.

A2 had his First Confession on Saturday. He wore a tie for the first time, and he looked sooooo handsome!

He was a little nervous, but he did great! The Church is so wise to have this sacrament offered to 7 and 8 year olds. A2 was a bit teary the night before when it finally really sunk in that he had to talk about the things he'd done wrong. I think that's indicative of the development of conscience, and that niggling conscience is so prevalent at this age. How wonderful that our faith gives us a means to obtain the forgiveness of God!

Afterwards, we went out to lunch to celebrate. Look how angelic he looks after receiving the sacrament!

Now for some "brothers" pictures! Here's all of them on the way to church:

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Yesterday I took N4 out to the Dollar Store. He was feeling a little sad because on our date this weekend (Yes! We actually had a babysitter and went on a real date, when it *wasn't* a special occasion - first time in, oh - at least 7 years we've done that - it was SO COOL! :-) we stopped at a bookstore and got a couple of books for dh, but they are ones that J1 enjoys, too. So N4 felt left out. "But *I* wanted something! Why didn't you get ME anything?" So, feeling somewhat bad, I decided that he probably just needed some one on one attention, and told him I would take him to the dollar store and give him $2 to spend, and then he could go with me on the rest of my errands. He was thrilled.

Yesterday he was very talkative while we were out. One of the first things he said to me was, "Mom? Did you know that I don't know everything yet?" Giggle. I put a positive spin on it, talking about how much there was to know, and it was *fun* to learn new things. He agreed, thankfully! Later he asked me, out of the blue, "So. How DO you get pregnant anyway?" I about choked - convinced I'd misheard him. I ask him what he meant. "You know - how do you get another child?" Um. Hmm. Thankfully he was satisfied with a rather simple answer. I told him just that mommy parts and daddy parts come together and make a baby, which grows in a special place inside mommies. "Yeah," he said, "that's what my new body book says, you know, the one I got on Easter? I really like that book, mom!" Much (MUCH!) like his oldest brother, he has a complete fascination with the science-y stuff about the human body. J1 and N4 are so similar that it can be kind of eerie!

Later that evening, he had a little melt-down when we asked the brothers to clear the table after dinner and I found him hiding under the computer desk because he didn't want to do it. Of course, I demanded he go out there and pick up a dish, and he had one of the biggest tantrums he's had in quite some time. I explained that we all need to help make the household run smoothly because we're all a family, and he informed me, "I don't want to be in this family any more!" I told him he didn't have a choice about the matter, that we were family, we'd always be family, and no matter what we'd always love him. "You don't really love me!" he said pitifully. Because to a 5 year old, if we REALLY loved him, he'd get whatever he want and do whatever he wants, right? Thankfully he was actually grateful when I went to him and gave him a huge hug, and he later tearfully apologized for everything. "I'm SO sorry about everything, mom!" he says with tear-filled eyes. It's so interesting to see them develop their little consciences.

I find 5 year olds to be such challenging creatures! Funny ones, too, even though they often don't realize it! :-)

Sunday, March 30, 2008

I had hoped to get this post up actually on baseball's Opening Day. Alas, life intervened, but I still have to share my thoughts on this subject near and dear to my heart!

I love baseball. I really, really do. I grew up with baseball. I played T-ball and then softball for many years. My entire family loves baseball. My mom and dad laugh and say they almost didn't get married because my mom didn't want to miss a single minute of the 1968 Tigers' run through the playoffs. Some of my fondest childhood memories involve listening to Tigers baseball - to this day hearing Ernie Harwell's voice brings back long summer days and the freedom of being young. (There has never been, nor will there ever be, another voice of baseball like Ernie Harwell!) The best baseball period ever in my life was , The Roar of '84. The Detroit Tigers went "wire to wire", leading their division the entire season after a record 35-5 start, culminating in a World Series win. That's the only time "my team" has won a championship when I was following them. And it doesn't matter to me. I love baseball, win or lose.

My boys don't play much baseball. We play in the yard a bit, and they did a season with a homeschool baseball league last year. I have so much respect for my friend Megan's family. Her boys are so involved in baseball that she named her blog "Bases Loaded"! I just can't imagine being so busy with 4 different boys on 4 different fields on lots of different days. Being that busy just doesn't go well with my family of homebodies. It might have been different if we had started the boys in t-ball and Little League at the appropriate times - unfortunately, circumstances and finances prevented us from joining teams when they were the right age, and it's now hard for them to step in the middle with their lack of knowledge and skill.

But that's ok - we all still love baseball, and that's what matters. We listen to almost every single Braves game, and we try to go to at least one game a year. We also follow the Tigers and the Minnesota Twins. This year I'm interested in the Diamondbacks, too, since we came close to moving out to Arizona.

Yes, I know that baseball is tainted by drugs and money. I hate "money ball", I far prefer teams that work within their own farm systems and nurture home-grown talent. I despise performance enhancing drugs and the culture that promotes and accepts it. But I think that baseball has always had ups and downs, because it is made up of human beings, with all our failings and strengths. It's one of the best thing about the game - because despite incredible talent, it's still a very human game. Not everyone can imagine growing up to become a hockey player, or a football player. But just about anyone can dream of playing baseball. I love that!

And Opening Day is what it's all about. It's my favorite time of the year. I love spring training, but it's bittersweet, because you always know that some of these guys won't make the team. As the season wears on, some teams are clearly out of contention, which is always a bummer, and sometimes the stress of having a team trying to make the playoffs is a wonderful yet terrible feeling! But Opening Day is grand. Everyone has a chance. Every player could become MVP, every team has a chance at the playoffs.

I just love baseball, and I'm so excited about being able to listen and see it for the next 7 months!

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About Me

I'm a 30 something, stay at home, homeschooling mom of 4 boys who prays to be blessed with more children. I've been married 14 years to the love of my life. I'm a devout Catholic who tends toward "traditional". I'm a Yankee by birth, but my heart is here in the South.
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!